#Bellwether

Roopa Vasudevan (Shanghai,CHina & Brooklyn, NY)

Artist In Residence: May 19 - July 29
Exhibition: May 20 - July 29, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, May 20, 6:00 ? 9:00 PM
Public Presentation: Thursday, July 19, at Transformer Station, 1-4PM

Photo Catalogue Video Catalogue

#Bellwether is a data collection project designed to dig deeper into the true political desires of the voting population of Ohio, a state that is regarded as vital to the endgame of both parties, but whose citizens are often treated as faceless, nameless votes.

Roopa Vasudevan (Shanghai, China & Brooklyn, NY) is collecting social media data related to 2016 US presidential candidates, from the first debates through the nomination conventions. The data consists of public Twitter postings, geo-located to Ohio or at least mentioning Ohio in some way. The artist will perform language processing to extract sentiment or desires from the postings. Outcomes will manifest as physical artifacts that coopt the design language of the presidential campaigns, but instead of reflecting the candidates curated messages, the artifacts will represent how Ohio residents perceive them.

Additionally, Vasudevan plans to lay the findings and current polls side by side. Is there a trend to what the population actually wants? Do these trends match up with the widely accepted polls? And if not, is it time to investigate a new system of vote forecasting that better utilizes the data trails we are already habitually leaving behind us?

Join us at SPACES for #Bellwether Milestones Thursday Evenings from 6-8 PM, June 16 through July 21.